Tamil Nadu court summons Kamal Haasan for remarks on Mahabharata

Tamil Nadu's Valliyoor court summons actor Kamal Haasan on Hindu Makkal Katchi plea that he had defamed the Hindu religion by making remarks about the Mahabharata.

Chennai, April 21: Tamil Nadu’s Valliyoor court summons actor Kamal Haasan on Hindu Makkal Katchi plea that he had defamed the Hindu religion by making remarks about the Mahabharata.

It is being said that the 62-year-old actor has been asked to appear on next month 5th for his ‘controversial’ remarks about the Mahabharata.

Earlier, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Hindu Makkal Katchi against the veteran actor for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments and causing enmity between groups and cause disturbance to public tranquility.

It was filed after Kamal Haasan made certain comments about the Mahabharata to a Tamil news channel. Kamal Haasan had expressed shock that Indians celebrated a book in which a woman (Draupadi) was depicted as an object and men (the Pandavas), as gambling her away.

The actor had said, “In Mahabharata, Panchali was used as a pawn while the men gambled. She was used as a collateral and India is a country that respects and honors a book that revolves around men using a woman to gamble away as if she was a mere object.”

India Today reported that it was a religious group, Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) of the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, that filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against Kamal Haasan. They also dubbed him as an anti-Hindu.